


Radio Airwaves

by LeedlingwithRageHappy



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Juggey - Freeform, Long Story Ayyyy, M/M, Platonic Mavin, WTNV AU, Weirdness, joelay - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-17 21:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1403314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeedlingwithRageHappy/pseuds/LeedlingwithRageHappy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joel is a radio show host who decides to start presenting fictional paranormal news in the early morning hours, expecting no listeners. What he doesn't count on is Ray Narvaez Jr, who actually begins experiencing what Joel talks about on the show and the two are drawn into a whirlwind of events that make them question what the hell they got themselves into.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'll admit it...I fell victim to the barista AU. Otherwise, this was inspired by Welcome To Night Vale, but no knowledge of it is needed. If you have listened to WTNV, you may pick up a few references here and there though.

The night is unusually quiet. One might not think anything of it, but if they pay attention, they would realize just how deafening the silence is. It’s almost terrifying and seems to get just under the skin. 

This, however, is Joel’s favorite time of night. It’s the only time he can clearly think and be alone for more than an hour at a time. During the day, it’s constant bombardment between programs for plans of next week’s and even next month’s shows. It’s loud too, so very loud. Joel doesn’t mind background noise from time to time, but when there’s constant chatter and things being moved around, it gets on his nerves. He’s thankful that most of the time he’s able to stay in the recording studio where it’s usually soundproof. 

Right now, he is the only one in the radio station. It’s nearly three in the morning, but Joel’s got something special planned. He’s wanted to do something like this for a while and hasn’t gotten the chance until now. The station is finally caught up on all of its shows, so it’s the first time in months that everyone has been able to go home at a reasonable hour. Joel, however, wants to take this opportunity while he still has it in his hands.

Methodically, he taps the microphone in front of him as if he’s trying to get the attention of an audience not there and inhales softly.

“Hello listeners,” he begins in a warm, inviting tone. “Today, we’re going to try something a little different. I know you’re used to me talking about stocks, but now, I want to bring you the news. It won’t be like the news you are used to hearing, though. This news is about what really goes on in this town of ours. I’ll tell you about the shadows and the breath on the back of your neck, when you hear your name, but there’s no one there, and why those things in your house only appear to be misplaced. I hope you enjoy our little journey into the unknown and hopefully, you’ll gain some new perspective on your life.”

The music slowly fades in and Joel grins to himself. He never expected to feel the amount of happiness as he does at this moment. For him, it’s like acting in and directing a movie and it is beautiful. It doesn’t matter if anyone is listening because it’s just a creative whimsy, as Joel conveniently reminds himself, and a new adventure in need of exploring. 

Deciding that the intro music has played enough, Joel turns on the microphone and speaks again.

“Today, the bookstore on the corner of 5th was suddenly filled with books! Imagine that, listeners. It seems that the winged creature who runs the store accidentally ordered books instead of its usual stock of pencils and paper and doesn’t know what to do with them. We all know that bookstores are meant for buying supplies to write books, but actually selling books! I don’t know what to think…”

~

The moon shines into a bedroom and a huff is heard. The brightness of the moon is likely to wake anyone up, but the occupant in this room is far from sleeping. A man with dark hair and lightly tanned skin rolls over again and glares at the moon as if that is the cause to why he cannot sleep on this night. Shooting his glare towards the clock, he realizes it is a losing battle and he gives in, switching on his bedside lamp and shoving his glasses on. In a flurry, he sits up in bed and exhales, wondering just what to do next. He mumbles to himself irritably and gets out of bed, in search of something to do until he can pass out. 

The man finds himself in the living room and stands there, hoping the answer will reveal itself to him. He turns slowly to look around and his eyes land on a rather large object in the corner. It’s an old radio and the man cocks his head in confusion, wondering how it got there. He remembers his father mentioning it a few times, but he’s not sure how he ended up with it in the end.

After tripping over a few unpacked boxes, he reaches the radio and traces his finger along the wood before attempting to turn it on. A few minutes of confusion ensue until he finally flips a switch and turns the dial, letting out a small yelp as the radio bursts to life. He stares at it as static sounds from the speakers and he hesitantly turns the dial. The static fades in and out as he practically spins the dial until a voice comes through for a moment. Immediately, he slows down his turning and moves the dial once more. 

“…but, I digress, listeners. Maybe one day, metallic organs will exist, but for now, we must deal with the tissues that lie within our chests.”

The man’s face twists into confusion and he tries to comprehend what he had just heard. 

“Metallic organs? What the fuck?” he whispers to himself, but before he can say more, the voice in the radio comes back.

“The station received a call this morning about the angels on the library roof and I can confirm that they are now stone statues. They may have flown around this morning, visiting residents in the town, but they always turn back to stone once the clock hits 12.”

The man lets out a laugh and decides to just go with it, figuring that what he’s listening to is a parody show of some sorts. In a way, he finds the voice oddly soothing and he flops onto the couch. The voice on the radio continues on and the man feels his eyelids get heavy. It’s like a soft lullaby and he can only imagine what the owner of the voice looks like. 

His last thought is that maybe for once, he’ll sleep and he wonders why he didn’t turn on that radio sooner.


	2. Chapter 2

The following morning, the man wakes up to sunlight pouring into the room and he stretches. For the first time in months, he feels well rested and he practically leaps off the couch, ready to start the day. A group of people talking grabs his attention and he remembers that he fell asleep to the sound of the radio. He thinks it’s the same station he was listening to the night before, though now the program that’s on sounds like some form of a podcast. The man plays around with the idea of listening to the new program, but an alarm goes off in his bedroom and he realizes he needs to go into work. Quickly getting himself ready, the man finds himself actually leaving his apartment on time and manages to catch the bus. 

After a few minutes, the bus stops in front of a café and he gets off, almost waving to the bus as it drives away. He wants to question his new happiness, but at the same time wishes to enjoy it while he still can. He opens the door to the café and is greeted by the sound of a small bell jingling. A head full of dark red curls pops out from behind the counter and the man waves.

“Hey, Ray! You’re on time today. What’s wrong?”

The man, Ray, laughs and heads towards a small door to put his things away. “Good morning to you too, Michael.” After his things are tucked inside, Ray turns back around and sees Michael looking at him. “What?” he asks.

“Seriously, dude. Why are you here already and happy too? This never happens,” Michael says with curiosity. “At least, not since you’ve started working here.”

Again, Ray can only laugh and he lazily shrugs. “I got some sleep last night. That’s all.”

He sees Michael’s brows furrow and he figures he should explain. “I’m an insomniac. I’ve been that way since before I moved here.”

Michael’s mouth becomes a silent o before he nods and doesn’t question any further, to Ray’s relief. It’s not that he wouldn’t talk about it more, he just prefers not to. That is, until Ray opens his mouth to speak again.

“I feel great for the first time in weeks,” he smiles and puts on his apron. He’s not sure why he suddenly wants to talk about his sleep, but at this rate, he could talk about taxes and still feel happy. “I mean, I felt good when I moved here, but this…it’s like when I discovered video games!”

Michaels nods with a smile as he puts some kind of pastry on a tray and Ray’s not sure if Michael’s still listening at this point. The Puerto Rican is just glad that the other man is at least pretending to. Ray tries to start a different conversation, but the bell by the door jingles and he jumps over to the cash register, ready to start the day ahead of him.

~

Joel wakes to the sound of pounding on a door and his head shoots up. Groggily, he looks around and tries to remember his surroundings. At the moment, it’s a mess of gray and he can’t figure it out. The pounding continues as the fog on his mind clears and he finally remembers that he stayed at the station for the night. He doesn’t remember falling asleep in the studio and he rubs his eyes tiredly. 

“Joel! Open up in there!”

He glares at the door until he remembers that he locked it just in case someone stopped in. With a heavy sigh, he pushes himself from his chair and goes to open the door, not wanting to face Burnie’s questioning. His body is stiff and he wants to sit back down, but he knows he won’t hear the end of it if he doesn’t open the door now. The opening of the door lets in light that Joel didn’t know existed and he squeezes his eyes shut.

“What the fuck happened last night? Don’t tell me you drank in here,” Burnie immediately interrogates.

Joel shakes his head and rests his head against the door, eyes still closed. “I just wanted to get some extra work done and I guess I fell asleep,” he convincingly explains. 

“Hmm,” Burnie muses and shuffles through the papers in his hands. “Well, go crash on the couch for a bit. We need to start the next show and all the other studios are full.”

Nodding appreciatively, Joel staggers towards the break room and lands on the couch heavily in a pleasant haze, his mind already thinking of the next broadcast.

~

The day moves by slower than expected. Ray knows that there aren’t many customers because it’s a small town, but now, it’s actually becoming boring. Not that it’s put a damper on his mood, though. Throughout the day, Ray has remained chatty to the point where he’s sure Michael went on an early break just to get away from him and his talking. One of other workers, Gavin, quickly took Michael’s spot next to Ray with enthusiasm, but after an hour, even Gavin is starting to look annoyed with the other man.

The door to the café opens and Ray thinks he sees Gavin mouth a, “Thank god,” to himself, but no hard feelings are felt and Ray turns back to the customer.

“Hey, what can I get for you?” Ray smiles.

The customer scratches the back of his head as he looks at the menu. Ray can’t help but notice his tall physique and finds himself wonder what kind of life the man leads.

“What would you recommend?” the customer asks.

Ray blinks and thinks to himself that it’s just a coincidence that the voice sounds so familiar. “Uh…depends on what you like, I suppose.” 

Smooth. 

Ray bites his lip and he tries to focus. The man in front of him looks very tired.

“Espressos are pretty strong if that’s what you’re looking for.”

The man’s lips curve into a small smile and he nods. “Sounds good. I’ll take that.”

Ray stands there for a moment before rushing to make the coffee. Now, he’s sure that the man is the same from the radio last night. Even though he’s only heard the voice once, Ray convinces himself that he would know it anywhere. 

“Here you go,” Ray says cheerfully and sets the steaming cup on the counter. He wants to ask the man if he is indeed the voice on the radio, but the question is quickly forgotten as the man shoots him a grin.

“Thanks…Ray,” the man nods after looking at Ray’s name tag and he heads out of the café. 

Ray watches the man pass by the large window and doesn’t realize he’s staring until Michael is practically in front of his face. 

“Jesus!” he yelps and jumps back, accidently landing on Gavin’s foot.

“Ow!” Gavin hisses in pain and hops away as he tries not to curse. 

Of course, all Michael can do is laugh at his two coworkers as Ray mumbles a quick, “Shit. Sorry, Vav.” 

“You guys are such idiots!” Michael manages to say between laughs.

Gavin scoffs at Michael and Ray shakes his head with a smile as he rests his head on the display case.

“Sometimes, I don’t know why I hired you guys.”

Ray lifts his head and sees Geoff in front of the door to his office, arms crossed. He can tell by the look on the man’s face that he’s not angry, just that he feels like he’s the only adult in the room.

“Because there’s no one else in this godforsaken town,” Michael conveniently reminds with a sarcastic smile and Geoff can only roll his eyes in a reluctant agreement.  
“All right. Get back to work, you three. Otherwise, I’ll put you in the kitchen with Jack and Ryan.”

“But Daaaad,” Ray whines and receives a middle finger from Geoff as the man disappears into his office.

Ray chuckles and then focuses his gaze back to the outside of the café as if he’ll see the man again, until a finger poking his side breaks his thoughts. He slaps Gavin’s hand away and soon a small scuffle starts between them, soon to be joined by Michael. Geoff yells at them from his office and the three try to quiet down their laughter as they continue playing dumb games with each other. Ray finally feels some semblance of his life coming back and he especially cannot wait for the next radio broadcast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this rushed? I feel like I'm rushing it. This whole story will probably end up that way...sorry...


	3. Chapter 3

“You’re staying late again?” Gus raises his eyebrow at Joel, his hands on his hips.

“Yeah,” Joel shrugs. “If I get things done now, I’ll be able to take it easy next month.”

Thinking over Joel’s words, Gus drops his hands and sighs. “If you say so. Just don’t lock the studio door again. It took Burnie and me nearly an hour to wake you up.”

Joel tightly grins and nods once before setting towards the studio door. He leaves it slightly ajar so he can hear everyone leave before he prepares his broadcast. He plans on doing it earlier in the evening since the night before made him slightly irritable during the day. 

At last, he hears the elevator ding and he knows he’s the last one in the station. Joel flips through his notes and thinks if he should revise a few of them. The visit to the café has been sticking in his mind all day and he wants to talk about it. The only thing that’s holding him back is that it would bring his personal life into his show. Then, Joel realizes that no one is actually listening to his show (that he knows of) and he decides to throw the adventures of his day in. He momentarily wonders if he should change the name of the café worker, but decides there’s no harm in mentioning it. Finalizing the thoughts in his brain, Joel shuffles his notes back to the first page and leans back in his chair, wondering how to pass time until he can broadcast. He has the radio station all to himself after all.

A short walk here, grabbing a few random things there, Joel eventually comes to the point where he's stacking objects on top of each other and he can only laugh at himself. For some reason, he's getting some great ideas for the show while doing this, not to mention perfect distraction from thinking about a certain person from earlier, and once he gets the final pencil on top, he looks up at the clock. Seeing it's nearly time, Joel scoots in his chair over to the other side of the table and sets everything into place before turning on the microphone. 

“You would think that nothing interesting ever happens in a little town like ours, but I can guarantee that all of you are wrong…”

~

Ray tiredly pushes his apartment door open and right away, he contemplates lying down on the floor. Instead, he turns on the light and thinks of what he could have for dinner as he throws his things in the direction of the closet. After digging around in his nearly empty cabinets, Ray mixes together different cans in a pot and hopes it tastes better than it looks. He turns on his computer while waiting for the food to heat up and checks the usual social sites before flipping on the TV. He finds a channel that’s somewhat decent and scoops his mystery dinner into a bowl before settling down in front of the TV. 

Dinner comes and goes quickly and Ray ends up back on the computer, debating if he wants to film another achievement guide or not. His channel is slowly gaining hits and he feels obligated to upload more regularly. Deciding that he has nothing better to do, Ray grabs a game and sets up his computer to begin recording. 

It’s not until a few hours later that he finishes. He leans back in his chair with a sigh and figures he’ll edit the video later in the week. A glance at the clock causes him to wonder if the broadcast is on and he races over to the radio, getting caught in his headphones that he forgot to take off. Once free, he turns on the radio in a flurry and after a few crackling noises, the voice emerges. Turning off the lights in the house, Ray falls back onto the couch and listens intently.

“And wouldn’t you believe it, dear listeners, today I think I may have found the town’s diamond in the rough. His name is Ray.”

Ray immediately sits up and stares at the radio, mouth slowly falling open.

“Ray. What a lovely name. It’s not just his name that’s wonderful, though. His perfect hair and perfect face are quite a sight to see. Not to mention his perfect eyes that draw you in with each blink.”

Ray feels himself get warm and he looks around as if someone is watching him.

“Perfect Ray,” the voice sighs and Ray can’t help but imagine the man from earlier with his head resting on his hand in a lovesick haze. It proves a little difficult since the man seemed so reserved, but Ray manages to come up with a humorous image anyways.

The voice continues on with a new topic and Ray is impressed by the man’s acting skills. Then, Ray frowns. If the man is truly acting, does that mean his compliments about Ray are artificial? It’s nice to be included in the man’s show, but Ray doesn’t want to get his hopes up either. As the voice once again lulls Ray to sleep, he hopes the man will visit the café again and maybe then, Ray will have the chance to ask him about the radio show.


	4. Chapter 4

Morning comes quickly, but Ray isn’t in a hurry. The night has been kind to him and he finds himself arriving at the café before Jack and Ryan even have a chance to get into the kitchen. The two men cheerfully greet Ray and think nothing of his early arrival since they barely see him on a normal day anyways and the three actually converse for a decent amount of time. Michael’s arrival signals the start to the day and everyone goes to their respective spots. 

“Hey, Michael!” Ray beams and then feels his smile falter as Michael shoots him a dark glare. 

He inches away from the other man and stands like a deer in headlights, hearing Michael mumble something that includes, “Too damn early,” and “Why’re you so fucking happy?” as he scoots behind Ray while tying his apron.

Thankfully, someone enters the café and Ray can go back to smiling. “Hi! What can I get…for you…?” 

Ray knows he’s staring at the customer, but he can’t help it. She has blonde, wavy hair that radiates in the morning light and her skin seems ghostly pale.

“Just a muffin,” she speaks softly and points to the one nearest to Ray.

Ray smiles and swallows nervously as he gets her order. He’s sure it’s just his imagination, but she doesn’t seem normal-if that’s even the right word. Shaking his head, Ray quickly wraps up the muffin and hands it to her, taking her money in the same step. A shiver passes through his body when their hands touch and he feels like he’s being watched. It takes a few moments for Ray to give the customer her change because of his distracted thoughts, but the customer doesn’t seem to mind. She gives Ray one last smile before leaving and Ray feels like he can finally breathe again. 

“What the fuck was that?” Michael asks and Ray’s face gets red. He didn’t realize how obviously shaken he was.

“Uh…just…” Ray scrambles to think while Michael stares him down. “Her hands were cold and they felt like sandpaper.”

Michael shrugs and leans against the glass case. “Maybe it’s a new beauty thing. No need to act like she’s the first girl you’ve ever seen.”

Ray admits that Michael has a point besides the fact that he’s not really interested in the female populace anymore. Still, he feels like something is off and taps the counter, feeling fidgety. Then, he notices a rather large white feather sitting next to the cash register. He gives a quick side-glance to Michael and sees the other man with his face hiding in his arms before picking up the feather. It’s a pristine white and looks fake, but he can’t put much thought into it as Gavin barges through the café door. 

“Morning, lads!!” Gavin says excitedly and sets to putting his things away.

Ray waves and stuffs the feather away under the counter while Michael grumbles, complaining about how it seems like it’s everyone’s early day. Michael’s mood turns even worse as Gavin practically tackles him to the floor, leaving Ray to separate the two before Geoff’s attention can be grabbed from his office. For the rest of the morning, Gavin remains plastered to Ray’s side with only Ray noticing the glares Michael gives them every five minutes.

~

Joel once again fell asleep at the station and he knows Burnie will question soon. He cautiously walks through the studio, poking his head around every corner in case Burnie shows up, and makes his way towards the elevator. Burnie’s door is slightly ajar and Joel does his best to slip past it. Just as he thinks he’s free, he hears the door open and winces when Burnie calls his name.

“Yeah?” Joel spins around and forces a grin on his face.

Burnie stares at him for a moment and then sighs. “I don’t know what you’re getting up to when everyone leaves, but you don’t look good.”

“I feel fine,” Joel responds and it’s not far from the truth. Besides a few morning aches, he feels pretty good. 

Burnie looks like he wants to question Joel more, but both men know that Joel won’t give a decent answer to anything asked. “We’ve changed the Stock Report program to 3 today, so you have an extra hour to do whatever,” Burnie finally gives up.

Joel feels his spirits lift and he does his best to not actually smile. He nods at Burnie and turns back to head to the elevator.

“Oh,” Burnie’s voice stops him. “I just thought you should know, one of the statues from the library roof is missing. Apparently the whole town’s in a uproar about it.”

Joel furrows his brows and looks back at the other man. “How’d it get off the roof?”

“Beats me. Well, I’ll see you later,” and before Joel can say anything else, Burnie disappears into his office.

Confusion still lingers around Joel, but he figures it’s just a stupid prank and he goes to the elevator, hoping to receive no more interruptions. 

~

“Is it noon yet?” Michael groans after a customer steps out. 

Ray looks at his watch again and shakes his head. “Still have a half hour. Did you not sleep last night or something?”

“I didn’t get to bed until 4 in the morning,” Michael responds and Ray is waiting for him to collapse on the floor. “Editing and shit, you know?”

Ray knows all too well and he decides to let Michael’s grumpiness off the hook. It wasn’t really bothering him in the first place, but work is always more fun when Michael’s in a decent mood. Michael turns away to draw on the chalkboard menu and that’s when Ray notices Gavin staring in Michael’s direction. 

Ray nudges him and mouths, “Go on.” He can tell that Gavin’s still distraught from upsetting Michael earlier and attempts to heal the friendship between the two. Gavin shakes his head frantically and Ray sees the nervousness in his eyes. Ray breathes out through his nose and he grabs a piece of paper, writing to Gavin that Michael doesn’t stay mad for long, or at least, not in Gavin’s case and that everyone will feel better if he just fucking talks to Michael. 

Ray underlines the last words for emphasis and shoves the paper in Gavin’s face, making sure Michael’s still focused on the chalkboard. With a sigh, Gavin sets the paper down on the counter and inches his way over to Michael. Ray wants to see how it all pans out, but instead decides to go and clean the tables so the two can have their space. Ray goes around the corner and gives Gavin a thumbs-up, waiting until he hears, “Michael,” to disappear in the more secluded part of the café.

Ray’s still trying to hear what’s going on by the front and nearly crashes into a table that’s currently occupied. 

“Shit! I mean, sorry, I-“

He stops and feels the words dry up in his mouth as a familiar face looks back at him. 

“It’s alright,” Joel smiles and sets down his cup. “You didn’t spill anything, so I think we’re okay.”

“Uh, yeah,” is all Ray can reply with and he scrambles to come up with some coherent thought.

Luckily, Joel’s willing to talk and he makes up for the silence being passed between them. “I thought you guys would have more business. It’s a nice café.”

Ray twists the washcloth in his hands and shrugs. “Maybe if we were on the main road, but…”

Joel sighs and lets out a small laugh. “I told Geoff. I told him to get the spot by the bookstore, but he didn’t listen. I mean, I understand that the location here is nice and quiet, but he’d be making a lot more money if he was on the main road, you know?”

Ray, at this moment, does not really know. He’s still trying to pay attention to Joel while coming up with something of his own to say. It’s frustrating how he can’t do anything when Joel talks, except listen to his voice. He feels like he’s caught under a spell. 

“How do you,” Ray clears his throat. “How do you know Geoff?”

He senses the other man has picked up on his nervousness when he laughs. “Geoff and I used to work with each other before he went off to do this.” Joel gazes around the café for a moment and then looks Ray up and down. “Joel, by the way. Joel Heyman.”

Joel holds out his hand and Ray is thankful that he registers enough to shake it. 

“Oh, uh, Ray, but you probably already know that.” 

Joel nods with a small smile and Ray finds himself lost. Sure, the man is fairly good-looking, but they’ve only met twice (unless the radio show counts) and all Ray knows about Joel is that he may or may not be interested in him. Ray feels Joel’s eyes on him and he slowly meets the man’s stare. At that moment, time seems to stop and Ray can’t put his finger on exactly what he’s feeling.

“Break time, motherfuckers!”

Just like that the spell is broken and Ray jumps back, blinking furiously. He turns his head to the side to see Michael and Gavin claim a table by the window before looking back at Joel. Unfortunately, the man seems to be focused on his cup, his fingers tracing along the handle.

“Sorry, I should get back to work,” Ray mumbles quickly and he turns on his heel.

“Wait…”

A hand on his arm stops Ray, but he keeps his eyes on the ground as his heart thuds in his chest. Ray knows his body is betraying him and he’s desperate to know why.

“Would you like to…fuck, I don’t know. Do you want to get dinner sometime?”

Ray’s mind clicks at Joel’s words and for some reason, he can think clearly now. “I don’t know about fucking, but dinner sounds nice,” he lifts his head and gives Joel a smug grin. Finally, he feels like the cards are back in his hand.

Joel laughs and he lets go of Ray’s arm slowly. Ray waits patiently (which at this moment, is not the easiest thing for him) and Joel shakes his head.

“Right, um…here’s...” Joel rummages around in his pockets and pulls out a receipt while Ray helpfully hands him a pen. “Number!”

Ray can’t hold back his laughter and Joel joins as well before finally jotting down some numbers.

“Thursday night okay?” Joel asks as he hands the receipt to Ray.

“Yeah, I get done at six.”

“Great, I’ll pick you up here then,” Joel says as more of a statement than a question. He grabs the newspaper and toys around with it while Ray remains in the same spot. “See you around then?”

Ray’s confidence comes back again and he bites his lip. “I hope so.” He can’t help but internally cheer when he sees Joel swallow and then rush out of the café without another word. Ray watches him disappear and then cleans up the table in a pleasant haze. As he walks back to the front counter, he notices Michael and Gavin watching him.

“What?” he asks with furrowed eyebrows, though he says it in a lighter tone to let them know that it’s okay if they want to ask questions.

“Date?” Michael cuts straight to the chase.

Ray shrugs with a grin, which turns into a large smile when Gavin’s mouth drops open.

“What are you so surprised about? Haven’t you heard about anyone dating before?” Michael asks impatiently.

“It’s not that,” Gavin defends himself. “It’s just the first time we’ve experienced Ray dating.” Gavin makes odd hand motions in Ray’s direction as if to help explain his point and Ray chuckles as Michael rolls his eyes.

“I’m not sure if I should be offended by that comment,” Ray answers. “It makes it sound like I’ve never dated before.”

His two coworkers shift awkwardly and Ray gives a short laugh. “Ouch, guys. I guess that doesn’t say much for my physique.”

Finally, Michael and Gavin laugh and narrowly avoid two cups being thrown at them by a certain Puerto Rican. 

“Hey!” Geoff sticks his head out of his office. “Those are meant for coffee, not weapons.”

Michael and Gavin boo and try to throw the cups in his general direction, only earning a scowl as Geoff goes back into his office. 

Ray shakes his head with a smile and leans against the counter, his mind already miles away. He plays with the idea of telling Joel about being a listener of the late-night radio show, but ultimately decides against it. He wants to hear what Joel has to say, plus it does give him a little insight into what goes on in the man’s mind. 

Ray’s thoughts don’t stay focused on Joel for long when Michael and Gavin race into the kitchen followed by Ryan and Jack’s yells as the two lads come back out with food meant for the display case. Ray snatches a cupcake from Gavin’s hand as he passes and soon enough, an odd game of catch occurs between the three friends. Once reprimanded by Geoff, the day continues on a usual boring note, only swayed by Gavin’s constant pestering about Ray’s date and Michael yelling at Gavin to shut up when he asks the same question for the fifth time.


	5. Chapter 5

“Are you okay?” Matt asks as he passes by Joel in the studio.

Joel looks up from his notes and gives him a blank stare. “Yeah, why?”

“You just seem overly cheery,” Matt shrugs. “And that usually means only two things. You’re drunk or you’re running late on a show and you’re covering it up by being super happy.” 

Joel laughs and shakes his head while Matt continues to stare him down. “No. It’s not either of those. Things are just looking up. That’s all.”

“Hmm.” Matt doesn’t seem convinced, but lets it go and disappears on an awkward note.

Joel sighs and contemplates hitting his head on the table in front of him. Ever since the radio show and Ray, everything around him has changed, even if it’s only been a handful of days. He’s noticed the difference in his personality at work and finds himself unable to concentrate. Stocks and monetary issues have always been able to hold his mind, but now, Joel finds himself unable to go at least five minutes without thinking about Ray. It’s not that Joel hasn’t had relationships and love interests before, but none have stuck him like Ray has. The kid seems like any other person he would pass on the street, but since the eventful day in the café, Joel finds himself a mess. He wants to know every little thing about Ray and if that isn’t creepy, Joel doesn’t know what is. He’s thankful he has the radio show to vent about things that happen in real life and hopes Burnie hasn’t caught on to his late night schemes. 

“Joel, I need the next show.”

Joel looks up and sees Lindsay, one of the new interns, peeking her head in. 

“Oh…right,” Joel says quietly, having forgotten about giving her the latest transcript of the stock report. “Can I email it to you tonight?”

Lindsay nods and goes back into the hall before sticking her head back into the studio. “How’s the café?”

“What?” For a moment, Joel’s stomach drops and he worries that Lindsay knows about him and Ray.

“The café that you’ve been going to. Is it nice? I want to go there sometime.”

Joel breathes out and then quickly recomposes himself. “It’s pretty good. You should go.”

Lindsay smiles and gives Joel a thumbs-up. “Awesome.” She runs off before Joel can reply and the man sticks his tongue in his cheek.

Giving a glance at the clock, Joel sees it’s time to start the stock report. Like clockwork, he locks himself in the studio, shuffles his papers, and turns on the mic.

~

When Ray gets home, the first thing he does is collapse on the couch. Geoff was not in a good mood, which resulted in the lads having to do extra work because they were, “Having too much fun,” as Geoff put it. A part of Ray wishes the town was more populated because then he could actually make more than a handful of drinks a day instead of doing brute labor because Geoff was grumpy. Overall though, Ray finds that he can’t really complain. Out of all the jobs in the town, the café seemed the most flexible and Ray has to admit he has some pretty great coworkers. 

Eventually, Ray gets off the couch and wanders around the house, mimicking zombie movements as he figures out dinner. The one thing Ray enjoys about living alone is that he can be weird as fuck and not worry about anyone questioning. Not that he’d care about their opinions anyways, but it’s still a perk. 

After staring at the same can of corn for a few minutes, Ray grabs it and decides to go for the poor college student dinner, which includes drinking milk straight from the carton and eating out of a can. He can’t be asked to do anything beyond that and figures that he should go grocery shopping soon so he doesn’t completely deprive his body of nutrients. He distracts himself on the computer and answers comments on his videos, willing the early morning hours to come quickly so he can hear Joel’s voice. 

The meeting earlier still lingers in Ray’s mind and he tries to figure out why he was so speechless for most of the conversation. Ray knows he’s more on the introverted side, but he had acted like he didn’t even know how to speak. No one ever had that effect on him and it fascinates and scares him all at once. Joel seemed like a fairly normal guy, yet Ray had acted like a star struck lover, or whatever that sappy shit is called.

Ray breathes out and checks the time once more, figuring the clock is still stuck at midnight. When he reads that it’s one minute past 2 AM, he holds back a cheer and jumps up from his desk. He turns on the radio and watches happily as it bursts to life, crackling, until there is silence and then Joel’s voice finally floats through.

“Today, we received reports of animals appearing on the spot. One witness reported a cow forming right before their car, which they luckily avoided until they ran into a giraffe running into the road. It’s a very curious thing. Most of the time, animals just appear on our front doorsteps, but never in the middle of town.”

Ray laughs to himself and wonders if he’ll ever understand the meaning of this show, let alone how Joel comes up with his ideas.

Ray looks behind the radio and sees that the extension cord is indeed long enough for him to bring into his bedroom. He knows he could just unplug it, but he doesn’t want to stop listening to Joel’s voice for even a moment. Ray is surprised to find that the radio weighs practically nothing and he brings it into the bedroom, setting it right near his bed. He intently listens as he gets ready and crawls into the bed with relief. Joel once again mentions the angels on the library and Ray wonders if the angel that had been missing was returned, which Joel confirms is back safe and sound at that moment. 

“And, listeners, wouldn’t you believe it! I have a date with Ray!”

Ray rolls his eyes at how sickly sweet Joel sounds, but grins as Joel continues on about him. It’s weird to hear about himself from another’s perspective and has to disagree with Joel on many points. However, Ray’s just happy that Joel’s feelings for him are the one real thing about his show and he feels his eyes blink slowly as Joel’s words wash over him.


	6. Chapter 6

The next few days pass by uneventfully and Thursday pounces on Ray before he feels properly prepared for the date. That, however, is not the only thing that’s happened.

“Okay, but it’s just a cat. Well, a few cats…” Ray tries to reason with Michael.

“It’s not just the cats, Ray,” Michael shakes his head. “How do you explain the dogs around Gavin’s place and-”

“Dog pack?” Ray shrugs.

Michael shoots him a glare. “And what about the cow at Ryan’s or the chickens at Geoff’s?”

“Farm…incident.” Ray began that sentence with doubt and then nods his head as if that was what he intended to say in the first place.

“Yeah, and I’m sure the fucking lion at Jack’s house was a farm incident too!”

Ray looks at Gavin for help, but the Brit meekly backs away. 

“I don’t see why I can’t keep one of the dogs or cats,” he mumbles.

“Because they appeared out of fucking nowhere, Gavin!” Michael yells at him. “There were no cats in my place yesterday and now there’s at least five of them! They could be some crazy science experiment for all we know!”

Ray waves his hands to get Michael’s attention. “Look, I’m sure it’s nothing guys, okay? Maybe just some weird animal escape shit that’ll be taken care of.”

“Yeah, tell that to the Sheriff’s Secret Police,” Michael grumbles and crosses his arms.

Gavin’s face twists in confusion. “Sheriff’s Secret Police? But that doesn’t exist…”

Michael gives Gavin an “are you fucking kidding me” look and then Gavin realizes what the other man meant. “Right. Sarcasm. You’re quite good at that, aren’t you, Michael?”

Michael sighs and turns back to the register as the bell by the door signals the entrance of a customer. As Michael takes the customer’s order, Ray can’t help but to notice the coincidence between today and Joel’s radio show a few nights ago. He had talked about animals appearing, but it couldn’t possibly be the same, could it?

Ray turns back and realizes he missed making the drink for the customer, but luckily Gavin had taken care of it. The customer goes to sit in a secluded part of the café and only then does Ray notice how red Michael’s face looks.

“Okay there, Michael?” Ray asks, craning his neck to get in Michael’s field of view.

Michael blinks and looks away quickly. “Yep. Never better.”

Ray smirks and glances in the direction Michael was looking to see a red-haired girl sitting at one of the tables. “Michael Jones, I never thought I’d see this day,” the Puerto Rican jokes and Michael’s face turns a darker shade of red.

“Shut the fuck up,” Michael mumbles, though Ray can detect a hint of a smile, and the other man pushes past Gavin into the kitchen.

Gavin looks between the swinging kitchen door and Ray, his face holding an even more confused expression than before.

“Maybe Michael and I can do double dates,” Ray helps and laughs as Gavin’s mouth drops open and the Brit rushes into the kitchen.

He can hear a few shouts being exchanged, but from what he can make out, Gavin’s probably jumping excitedly around Michael while the other man yells at him to, “Calm the fuck down!” as Ryan and Jack demand the two to get out of the kitchen. Michael emerges first, followed by a sniggering Gavin, who keeps jabbing Michael’s side.

“Cut it out!” Michael finally snaps and slaps the other man’s hand away. “Can’t you be more like Ray right now?”

The goofy grin remains plastered on Gavin’s face and he constantly looks between Michael and the customer as she finishes her drink.

“Why is she taking so long to drink a cup of coffee?” Michael quietly asks to Ray. “Jesus Christ, if she keeps taking her time, I’m going to end up asking her on a date.”

“And that’s a bad thing because…?”

Michael stares at Ray and the Puerto Rican returns the look. 

“I’ve never been on a date,” Michael finally admits. 

Ray grins and slaps his hand down on Michael’s shoulder, reassuringly. “What better time to start then?” The Puerto Rican can see his friend shift between wanting to punch him in the face and hug him at the same time.

“Fine,” Michael mutters and he edges along the counter. 

Ray rolls his eyes and feels tempted to push Michael over to her table, but knows he’ll get the shit beaten out of him if he does. Everything is playing out like a romance movie and then, the café door opens. 

“Joel!”

Ray whips his head to the door and sees Joel standing stock-still, staring at the girl at the table.

“Uh…” Joel glances at Ray and then looks back at her. “Hey, Lindsay.”

“Thought I’d see you here,” she grins. “I can see why you like it so much.”

Michael stares at Ray and the Puerto Rican shrugs. “Coworkers?” he mouths. 

The two continue silently communicating to each other that Ray doesn’t notice a conversation ending. He hears someone clearing their throat and he jumps. “Fuck,” he says, shocked, though he shouldn’t have been.

“Hello to you too,” Joel laughs.

Ray licks his lips nervously and looks at Michael, waiting until the man takes another step towards the table before turning back to Joel. “You’re early,” Ray finally replies. “Um, so you know her…?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s one of the interns at my place of work. We’re both off early because of the whole animal incident.”

Ray smiles and looks at his hands. “Ah, okay. Do you want anything?”

“I’ll see you later, Joel. Have fun!” 

Joel waves as Lindsay passes by and both men notice her wink before she exits the café. Joel’s face seems to turn a shade of red and Ray laughs nervously. Next to him, Ray sees Michael lean over, breathing out heavily.

“Uh…is he okay…?” Joel says quietly and points at Michael.

“What? She what?” Gavin is leaning down as well and trying to get every little bit of information out of the hyperventilating man. The Brit looks up and smiles at Ray. “She said yes!”

“Way to go, Mogar!” Ray cheers and gives Michael a high-five once he stands up straight.

Joel still looks confused and Ray fills him in.

“O-oh,” Joel tries to say on a lighter note. “This’ll be news at the station.” 

Ray assumes Joel meant to say the last part quietly as the man gives him a slightly worried look.

“You work at the radio station?” Ray plays dumb and sees Joel’s face relax. 

“Yeah,” the man smiles. “Stock reports and money issues of the day. Pretty boring stuff.”

Ray nods, though a part of him wants to mention the other radio show of Joel’s. “I’m sure it’s still good though,” he says encouragingly. 

The Puerto Rican does his best to ignore Michael’s exaggerated coughing, which he assumes is an attempt to cover Gavin’s gagging noises and he looks at them. The two men grin and then run away to the kitchen before Ray can say anything and he turns back to Joel.

Joel seems slightly amused and he raises his eyebrows. “Geoff hired those two?”

“Yeah, I know, right?” Ray shakes his head and smiles. 

“This is a smaller town than I thought.”

Ray laughs and then begins to untie his apron. “I’m sure Geoff won’t mind if I leave a few minutes early.”

Joel seems to agree to this and Ray stands next to him after grabbing his things. “Sorry I’m not really dressed up…”

He looks down at his clothes and is at least proud of himself for wearing a black overtone. Then, he looks at Joel and realizes the man isn’t all that dressed up himself.

“It’s okay. I was aiming for casual anyways,” Joel smiles and Ray breathes out a sigh of relief. He likes the way Joel takes things already.

“Shall we? It’s only a short walk away.”

Ray feels himself nod excitedly and follows Joel out of the café, catching the last bits of catcalling from Michael and Gavin. Making sure Joel isn’t checking behind, Ray turns back to the kitchen and gives them the middle finger before catching up with Joel. 

“So,” Ray begins, though he’s not sure where to go from there. The night is cool and he’s thankful he brought a hoodie with him today. 

“When did you move here?” Joel asks.

“Oh, um…about a month ago.” Ray shoves his hands into his pockets and watches as he falls in stride with Joel.

“Ah, that explains why I haven’t seen you around before.”

Ray raises his eyebrows. “Have you lived here your whole life?”

“For the most part. I moved away for college, but ended up back here for work.” 

“Jeez…aren’t you sick of a little town like this?” Ray questions. 

Joel looks at him and Ray stares at his shoes. “It’s okay. Do you not like it here?”

“Oh no,” Ray quickly defends himself. “It’s great, but I don’t know if I could stay here forever.” Joel goes quiet and Ray worries he said the wrong thing. “I mean, I came here to get away from it all…but, unless there’s really something to keep me here…”

Silence is exchanged and Ray hopes he hasn’t already ruined the evening. Joel doesn’t look upset, but at the same time, Ray can’t really read the man’s face at all. 

“Here we are.”

Ray looks up and sees the neon sign for a restaurant he noticed when he first came into town.

“Oh! I’ve wanted to go here,” he stares at the sign.

Joel grins and opens the door for him and the two make their way inside. They’re seated quickly and Ray is surprised at the variety of food the place has. Joel insists that Ray can order whatever he wants and doesn’t budge at all when Ray tries to convince him to let him pay for his own meal instead of having Joel pay for everything. Joel nudges Ray’s leg and Ray goes silent, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. 

“It’s decided then. I’m paying,” Joel grins and Ray sputters, trying to argue his case.

The food finally comes and it’s only then Ray gives up, seeing that the other man is determined to make the evening a proper date. The talk is small, but they still find out things about each other. As they chat, they find out that they have a lot more common interests than expected and Ray knows he doesn’t want the evening to end.Soon enough, they find themselves back on the street and Ray isn’t sure what happens next.

“Can I walk you home?” Joel asks quietly.

Ray does his best to not grin wildly and nods. He leads Joel in the general direction of his place and the other man obediently follows. Ray quickly picks up where they left off about Minecraft and tells Joel about his world and the things he’s working on right now. Ray’s surprised that he’s talking so much, but around Joel, he just feels comfortable, like he’s known Joel all his life. 

As he continues to talk, he feels a hand entwine with his own and Ray stops, feeling his breath catch in his throat.

“Is this okay?”

Ray stares at his and Joel’s hands and then breathes out slowly. “Yeah. This is…nice.” He thinks he sees a small smile on Joel’s face and the two begin walking again. 

Ray feels his voice shake as he starts the conversation, but soon enough, the warmth of Joel’s hand becomes comforting and Ray is back to talking normally. Before Ray knows it, he and Joel are on a familiar street and Ray has to pause for a moment to remember just where he lives. 

“Sorry. You’d think after living a month here, I’d know what number my place is,” Ray lamely explains, though he thinks the truth is that he just forgot because all he can think about is Joel at this moment.

“It’s fine,” Joel reassures and Ray once again loses his train of thought.

“Fuck,” Ray mumbles and does his best to not slap himself across the face. Joel’s voice should not be as mesmerizing as it is, but Ray can’t help himself.

Joel laughs softly and Ray feels his face get red. 

“Uh…this way.” Ray tugs at Joel’s hand and quickly walks around the corner, hiding his embarrassment as best as he can. 

At last, his apartment is in sight and Ray practically sprints towards the building until he remembers that his hand is still in Joel’s. He looks at the other man and sheepishly grins in apology, but Joel doesn’t look as if he minds at all. 

“This is it then?” Joel looks up at the complex and then back at Ray.

Ray follows Joel’s gaze and then shrugs. “Yeah. It’s not much, but I guess it’s home.”

Joel nods with a small hum and looks everywhere but at Ray.

“I, uh…” Ray clears his throat. “I should probably go up then. Early day tomorrow and, you know.”

The two men stand in silence and neither is sure who should make the first move. 

“Alright,” Ray drops Joel’s hand and looks him in the eye. “Um, thank you for tonight. I’ll see you at the café soon?”

“That sounds good,” Joel responds quietly and Ray shifts under his gaze.

Ray purses his lips and then, in a rash moment of thinking, places a quick kiss on Joel’s cheek before racing into his apartment. It’s only after he gets inside that Ray realizes he hadn’t said goodbye and he turns around quickly, but sees no one outside on the sidewalk.

Ray finally takes this opportunity to hit his head against the wall for all the stupid mistakes he had made throughout the evening before making his way towards his apartment. Overall, though, it was a nice evening and Ray smiles to himself. Once inside his apartment, Ray finds himself a caffeinated beverage and distracts himself on the computer until it’s time for the radio show.


	7. Chapter 7

“Sooo?”

Joel lifts his head from his hands and sees Lindsay in the studio doorway, arms crossed and a large grin on her face. Joel knows exactly what Lindsay wants, but he decides to play dumb and make her wait a little more.

“So what?”

Lindsay, however, is not taking any of Joel’s bullshit and she rolls her eyes before sitting down in the chair opposite of Joel. “How was your date?” she says excitedly and puts her head in her hands.

A part of Joel wants to run out of the studio in order to avoid having a huge talk about his date, but so far, Lindsay’s the only one at the station who knows and he feels as if he owes it to her.“It was good. He’s a good kid.”

“Do you always have to call someone who’s younger than you a kid?” Lindsay laughs and shakes her head.

“When you get to my age, yes,” Joel deadpans and sighs before continuing on. “I like him. A lot. Haven’t felt this way in a while.”

Joel can see Lindsay holding back her squeals of delight and she looks back at him with bright eyes. 

“Do I have to say more? I’ve got a show to do.”

“Ugh, fine!” Lindsay gives in and jumps up quickly. “But details later, okay?” she gives Joel a wink and disappears from the room. 

Joel tightly grins and blinks several times before directing his attention back to his papers and the microphone. It was going to be a long day.

~

Ray is surprised to see Jack and Ryan out of the kitchen with the rest of the team when he arrives at work, especially since it’s one of the busiest parts of the day.

“Hey, what’s up?” Ray asks everyone and the conversation stops.

“Just talking about the animals from yesterday,” Ryan explains. “Turns out you were right with your farm incident conclusion.”

Ray cocks his head in confusion and looks at Michael and Gavin. “What about the lion though?”

“Oh,” Jack waves. “Yeah, some idiot at the zoo forgot to lock the cage after feeding times for both the lion and the wolves, so a few of those animals escaped.” Jack thinks for a moment. “Still scared the shit out of me though.”

“And that’s what was in my yard!” Gavin jumps in like an excited child. “It was a wolf pack, not dogs.”

Ray takes a moment to understand everything he’s just heard and when he finally thinks he has a grasp of the situation, he turns to Michael. “So there’s an explanation for everything, but what about your cats?”

Michael breathes out angrily and shakes his head. “Some dumbass couple next door has an unfixed female cat. All the cats at my place were…”

Ray’s mind clicks and he does his best to not laugh at Michael’s predicament. 

“It’s not funny, asshole.”

Ray can’t hold in his laughter anymore and soon enough everyone else joins in, except for Michael, who begins to look extremely pissed off. 

“Jesus,” Geoff finally calms his laughter. “What kind of fucked-up town do we live in?”

Ray is finally starting to wonder that too, but he can’t think about it long before Gavin conveniently reminds everyone about the night before.

“RAY! Date! How was it?”

“Holy fuck, talk normally,” Michael mumbles, but gives Ray an approving nod.

All eyes are on Ray and he swallows, unsure of what to say about it.

“It was…yeah, it was nice.”

“Wait, hold on,” Geoff cuts in as if his mind just registered what Gavin said. “What date? With who?”

Ray blinks and doesn’t exactly know how to tell Geoff that he’s dating a friend of his and the other gents. Luckily (or maybe not so luckily), Michael helps out with that.

“Ray went on a date with Joel last night.”

The entire room is silent and the gents exchange looks. 

“Seriously?” Jack asks.

Ray is taken aback and stands up straight. “Yeah. Is there a problem with that?”

“No, no,” Geoff laughs and Ray becomes confused. “It’s just that Joel always proclaimed himself as a bachelor for life and now this. Oh, this is good.” Geoff soon doubles over with laughter, followed by small chuckles from Jack and Ryan. All the lads can do is look at each other and wonder just who the fuck they were employed by.

“Uh, so…you’re all okay with me dating Joel?” Ray questions slowly.

“Of course!” Ryan shrugs as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. “Who are we to say who you can and can’t date?”

Ray swallows and opens and closes his mouth a few times until finally, Gavin and Michael give in to their own laughter as well.

“You fuckers,” Ray grimaces, but smiles afterwards to reassure his coworkers that he’s not truly upset with them. 

However, the excitement in the café doesn’t stay for long as the bell jingles, signaling the start to another busy couple of hours and each man disperses to their assigned station.

~

Ray wipes down the counter for the sixth time that day, despite there not being any signs of dirt on it. He’s been distracted by thoughts of Joel that half the time, he doesn’t notice his actions until he feels the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He whips around and sees Michael staring at him with one eyebrow raised.

“What?” Ray questions defensively.

Michael looks surprised by Ray’s harshness and the dark-haired man shakes his head. “Sorry. I’m not completely here today.”

“Obviously,” Michael responds and then a smug grin appears on his face. “Thinking about the date?”

Ray feels his face get warm and he wipes the towel across the counter. “Maybe,” he mumbles though he knows Michael already has him figured out.

“When’s the wedding?” Michael coos and receives a smack in the face from the wet towel. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Ray laughs as Michael peels the towel from his face. “It’s only been one date. What about you and that girl?”

At this, it’s Michael’s turn to become red and he scratches the back of his neck. “I’m kind of nervous. We’re meeting up tomorrow, but…”

Ray waits patiently, but Michael only stares at the ground and shifts on his feet.

“Michael, look,” Ray puts a hand on Michael’s shoulder. “It’s going to be fine. She said yes, so you already have a pretty good chance of the date not being a complete failure.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

Ray shrugs with a grin and decides to wipe down the shelves, grabbing the towel that has been squeezed to oblivion in Michael’s hands. Michael grumbles something the other man doesn’t quite catch, but he has a feeling it’s directed towards him when Michael ruffles Ray’s hair as he passes into the kitchen. Ray slightly grimaces and tries to fix his hair before cleaning out the dust that’s accumulated in the shelves. As he’s reaching back, his hands brush an unfamiliar item and Ray pulls it out, remembering right away that it’s the feather he stowed away a few days ago. Despite sitting in a dusty shelf, the feather is still perfectly white and he feels as sense of confusion as he runs his hands along the outer edge. 

The front door rings and Ray quickly jumps up from behind the counter to greet the new customer, shoving the feather into his pocket this time. Ray feels his breath catch in his throat as the customer approaches, the face all too familiar much to Ray’s discomfort.

“Hi, Ray,” she greets. Her blonde hair seems even brighter, practically bordering on the edge of white.

Ray doesn’t know how to respond, caught in her piercing gaze and the fact that she remembered his name so easily. True, it was pinned to his chest, but no one really gave a glance at it whenever he served them.

She stands there expectantly and then opens her mouth when she sees Ray’s struggle to respond. “I’ll just take some Earl Grey tea.”

“Tea,” Ray repeats back and he feels like he’s on autopilot as he makes up her order. Something is crawling into Ray’s mind, though he can’t put his finger on it.

He practically slams the cup on the counter as he tries to understand what’s going on and grabs the money from her hands. He feels like he’s in a haze when he hands her the change and then he freezes when she grips onto his hand. She leans in close and Ray feels a shiver go down his spine.

“Something is coming, Ray,” she whispers in his ear. “Something big. It’s going to change your life and only you can stop it.”

Time slows down as she pulls away and Ray, for a moment, sees himself staring at his own body as she lets go of his hand. 

“Be safe,” she says lowly and walks out of the café, leaving a confused and frozen Ray behind.

As soon as the door closes, Ray inhales deeply as if he had just surfaced from staying underwater too long and he stumbles backwards. 

“Whoa, Ray, are you okay there?”

Ray stares wide-eyed back at Geoff and there is a deafening silence. Ray opens his mouth several times and he feels himself slowly shake his head. Suddenly, the ground begins to spin and Ray feels himself slipping away.

~

“…and so, the City Council once again warns everyone to avoid the angels on the library rooftop. I know many of you saw them as helpers and creatures that only looked out for all of us in the community, but after further investigations, they have been confirmed as dangerous.” 

Joel sighs and shuffles his papers around in order to create a more realistic effect of the radio broadcast. He glances down at his watch and sees the time approach the half-hour, deciding quickly to switch to the music portion of the program. 

Once the music fades in, Joel sinks into his seat. Today’s broadcast feels eerie in Joel’s mind and he’s not quite sure why. He rubs his eyes tiredly and stretches, but the pit in his stomach still remains. Immediately, his thoughts go towards Ray and he hopes the younger man is okay. He hasn’t talked to him since their date and decides at that moment to make the first move. Joel pulls out his cellphone and slowly types out a message, wondering if he’s being too forward for a moment before deciding to fuck all and hitting the send button. He figures Ray won’t reply until the morning and practically jumps when he hears his phone go off.

_**Hey. Can’t sleep either?**_

Joel purses his lips, debating on telling Ray why he’s up so late. He concludes however, that his radio show is one secret he’d like to keep from Ray for a little while and he comes up with a small lie.

_Yeah. Hard to sleep with your beautiful face on my mind._

_**Oh god, your flirting is terrible.**_

_Are you saying you could do better?_

Joel grins and is thankful Ray isn’t put off by his horrible, corny lines, or at least not from what he can tell. A playful banter continues on between the two men until Joel remembers he still has to conclude the radio show. Joel practically rushes through the ending and begins locking up the studio before sending a goodnight text to Ray. It’s sickly sweet, but Ray seems to like it, sending Joel his own cavity-inducing text that leaves the older man in a state of bliss he hasn’t felt since his days of college.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I changed a little bit of the text conversation formats...Ray is now in bold italics while Joel is just in regular italics)

The café is filled with shouts the next day, causing all who pass by to stare at it in concern.

“Yes! Uh…sure? Jesus, I don’t know! OH MY GOD, I’M FINE.”

Ray swats Ryan’s hand away and he side jumps towards Michael and Gavin. 

“Geoff, seriously,” Ryan begins to argue. “Ray should not be here today!”

Geoff lifts his head from his hands and looks at his employees groggily. “Ray seems fine and he wanted to work today anyways,” he tries to argue.

“He nearly gave himself a concussion yesterday!” Ryan points at Ray with his hand and the Puerto Rican holds himself from sighing too loudly.

Geoff looks like he wants to burrow away in his office and he looks to Ray for further explanations.

“Ryan, maybe I was just tired yesterday,” Ray attempts to explain. “I didn’t mean to get you guys all worked up.”

Ryan breathes out heavily and he sees that he’s not getting past Ray’s stubborn attitude today. “Well, at least go home early, okay? You were pale as a sheet yesterday and I just want to make sure you’re back to being 100% Ray.”

Ray smiles appreciatively and is secretly thankful to have someone like Ryan watching over him. The older man tsks and then disappears into the kitchen with Jack obediently following behind. 

“Sorry, Geoff,” Ray apologizes, but the other man raises his hand and shakes his head. 

“Don’t work yourself too hard today, alright? Ryan makes a valid point. And you two,” Geoff points at Michael and Gavin. “Make sure he does as he’s told.”

Michael salutes and Gavin goofily smiles while giving a thumbs-up as Geoff goes into his office. Ray finally lets out a sigh with a huge eye roll, hating at that particular moment that he’s the youngest of the crew. 

“Aw, does baby Ray need a nap-nap?” Michael jokes and receives a punch in the arm with a small laugh.

“Baby Ray!” Gavin’s eyes light up and Ray gives him a “fuck no” look, making sure he’s out of the Brit’s reach.

Throughout the rest of the day, Ray is practically coddled through every little thing he does to the point where he grumpily sits in the corner just to get away from the constant babying. The event from the day before is now in the back of Ray’s mind to the point where he’s dismissed it simply to a crazy dream and nothing more.

~

Joel blinks several times, trying to register what he just heard. Finally, he clears his throat. 

“No.”

“Joellll,” Lindsay whines and follows Joel as he tries to get away from her. “Please?”

“I’m not putting you into my show!”

“Why not?!”

Earlier that morning, Lindsay had trapped Joel in his studio, immediately praising him for his radio show that she managed to catch a few early mornings ago. It resulted in a red-faced Joel running around the station, trying to avoid Lindsay’s curious and excited demeanor. He felt a part of him exposed and wished he could wipe Lindsay’s memory of it. 

“C’mon!” Lindsay grins. “I haven’t spilled the beans on this show or your new boy.”

Joel stops and clenches his fists, counting to ten in his head. He turns around to see Lindsay’s smug face and he sighs in defeat. “Fine. Do you want anything in particular to happen to you?”

Lindsay’s face brightens and she hugs her papers to her chest. “Maybe-what if-ooooh! Have me disappear!”

Joel stares at the smiling girl and he scratches his neck, grimacing at the thought. 

“Joel, it’s just made up stuff,” Lindsay happily reassures. “I mean, it’s not like I’ll actually disappear.” The red-haired girl waves her hand in a jokingly manner and Joel can only find himself wishing he were in arms reach of some medicine as he feels the beginnings of a migraine starting.

~

A few nights later, Joel is at the studio alone and finds himself feeling uneasy. Ever since Lindsay had begged to be in the show, an apprehension made its way into Joel’s mind. Perhaps, it was just having another person know about the show or something else. Joel can’t quite put his finger on it. Still, the radio show is Joel’s project that he looks forward to every night, so he turns on the mic and begins. 

“Listeners, I have grave news today. Intern Lindsay has disappeared. Now, it’s not your average every-day disappearance. Those are being well taken care of by the Secret Police. This one has caused the formation of strange clouds in the sky that appear not only ominous, but as if they were living as well. Our condolences go out to Lindsay’s family and friends and we hope she is found soon.”

Joel plods on through his show, but suddenly, it begins to seem all too real to him. The air seems thicker than normal, much like before a thunderstorm and he can’t help notice the flickering lights in the studio as well. There had been no reports of any storms in the weather forecast and Joel tries to pass it off as error on Barbara’s part.

The rest of the show seems to drag on and Joel starts checking his phone every chance he can get. He doesn’t have high hopes for receiving a text from Ray at this time of night, but nonetheless, carries through with the ritual of taking out his phone and shoving it back into his pocket. As if on cue, his phone beeps as he wraps up the show and Joel jumps on it, nearly dropping the phone in the process.

_**I thought there weren’t supposed to be any storms this week. Did Barbara lie to us?** _

Joel’s first thought to Ray’s text is panic. He thought nobody in town paid attention to the radio station, but now it seems as if one person in particular does. Joel prays that Ray hasn’t caught wind of his radio show and he carefully types back his answer.

_Why are you texting me at three in the morning about weather?_

_**Look who’s talking.** _

Joel sighs and sticks his tongue in his cheek, thinking of some sarcastic reply to send back when another text comes his way.

_**I want to see you again.** _

In some alternate universe, Joel is fist-pumping the air and dancing around the studio. Right now, though, Joel stares blankly at his phone like it’s a foreign object. He slowly lifts his thumbs to begin typing and each key hit sounds like a drum banging in his ears.

_Tomorrow?_

Ray’s reply seems to take years and Joel contemplates biting his fingers.

_**You mean today?** _

_Smart ass._

_**You love it. And yes. Your place or mine?** _

Joel rereads the last part several times. Did Ray really just send that? It hits Joel like a tidal wave and he suddenly realizes just how serious Ray wants to be. That is, if he’s interpreting the text correctly.

“Breath, Joel,” he tells himself and wipes away the sweat he thinks is accumulating on his forehead.

_Your choice, he types, figuring he can’t go wrong with that answer._

_**Jooeell.** _

_Raaayyy._

_**Fine. Your place.** _

A smug grin finds its way onto Joel’s face until he remembers that he does indeed live alone. It wouldn’t be so bad except the fact that Joel’s pretty sure he hasn’t seen his floors in months. Joel stares at the table, wondering how hard he can bash his head onto it without permanently causing any damage, but another text interrupts him first. 

_**I’m guessing by the lack of reply that you’re either ecstatic or regretful. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.** _

_Today_ , Joel responds immediately, eternally grateful that the conversation is taking place in text form.

_**You stole that from me. Not fair.** _

Joel checks his watch and realizes he should probably head home. As he’s stuffing the papers into his back and pulling on his coat, he types out a reply that he hopes will get Ray flustered.

_Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make it up to you ;)_

From the time it takes Joel to get into the elevator and down onto the ground floor, there is no reply and Joel’s confident that he’s won. A beep catches him as he makes his way home and the smile is wiped away from his face as he reads his screen.

_**You better or you’ll be begging all night long.** _


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good lord, I don't even know.

Ray is disappointed to see the sky a dark gray when he wakes up. He had hoped that his joking about the weather was just that, but it looks as if some unknown weather god listened to his words. 

Quickly getting ready, he does his best to get to work before any rain can fall and pulls the hood up on his sweater once he’s outside. Everything goes smoothly until he gets to the bus stop, where as soon as he reaches the sign, thunder booms and Ray’s caught in a downpour. 

It’s almost comical as Ray mumbles curses to himself and the rain soaks him almost immediately. He wills the bus to come quickly and stares at the road in dismay as the bus comes, not five, but 15 minutes late. By the time, Ray gets to work, he’s about as grumpy as a cat thrown into a pond.

“Yes, the bus was late and no, I don’t have extra clothes,” he unhappily explains as Michael and Gavin watch him put away his backpack. 

Ray hears a small snicker and he whips around, staring down his friends, whose expressions suddenly feign innocence. The only sound in the café is the squeaking of Ray’s wet shoes and the rain on the windows as Ray takes his place behind the counter.

“Why are we working today?” Ray says in what he thinks is a quiet tone until Geoff shouts back a reply.

“Because a little rain never hurt anyone, you babies.”

“Thanks, Geoff,” Gavin hollers back. “I like you, too.”

“You better since I’m driving your ass home.”

This makes Gavin’s eyes go wide and he clamps his mouth shut, knowing better than to argue with his ride to and from places in this weather.

For some reason, Ray laughs at this and his mood becomes a little better.

“Jesus, might as well start building an ark,” Michael comments as he glances at the window.

The sky flashes and the rain seems to become heavier, making Michael let out a frustrated groan between clenched teeth. “Just once. Just fucking once I’d like to not jinx myself!”

As if Michael’s complaining isn’t enough, the lights in the café begin to flicker before going out completely. The sounds of the heater wind down along with other machines before the café is thrown into darkness.

“Thank you, Michael,” Ryan comments from the kitchen and thunder booms overhead.

“NO FUCKING PROBLEM.”

Ray reaches out and grabs Gavin’s arm, dragging the Brit away as Michael kicks the cabinets near him and throws cups at everything he possibly can, yet consciously avoiding the glass and metal objects. 

Gavin watches the entire scene play out in fear and fascination while Ray counts in his head and soon, out loud. “And in three…two…one…”

“Fuck, sorry guys,” Michael speaks, slightly out of breath. “Ray, were you fucking counting?”

Ray shrugs, knowing he’s one of the few who can pull Michael’s strings and not be slaughtered. “I’ve timed your outbursts. Believe it or not, there’s a science to it.”

“And here I thought you played video games all the time.”

Ray smiles, quick and false, before his face goes flat again and he checks on Gavin. “Okay there, Vav?”

Like a robot being booted up, Gavin slowly turns to Ray and blinks twice. “What?” Saying nothing, Ray raises his eyebrows and Gavin turns back to Michael. “Your anger…when I was watching you, it was like it was happening in slow-motion. Even when you two were talking to each other.”

Confusion is apparent on Michael’s face and he wastes no time in replying. “Gavin, we don’t speak your language. Care to repeat that, but in English?”

“Guys!” Gavin says, irritably. “It’s like I said. Everything was happening in slow motion!”

Ray rubs his eyes, figuring the next thing to happen will be another weird moment like…

“Michael! Is that a tail?!”

Ray’s eyes snap open and he looks over at his friend, hoping that he didn’t hear what came out of Gavin’s mouth. Instead, a tail the same color as Michael’s hair is indeed behind the man, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Michael spats and raises his arms. “I don’t have a fucking-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?”

The tail presents itself to Michael around his waist and the man grabs it, giving a tug and then yelping in pain. Ray’s mind is racing and he can’t figure what the heck is going on. 

Michael’s shouts bring the gents out from their posts and Ray feels his mind ready to explode when he sees those three. Geoff’s tattoos are moving around his skin like they have a mind of their own, while Ryan’s eyes have turned completely black. Jack himself seems fine until Ray sees the animal-like ears poking out from the top of his head. Everyone is screaming and pointing things out to each other except for Ray. He stumbles back and grips tightly onto a chair for support as he stares at the ground and breathes erratically. This same event had happened on Joel’s most recent broadcast and even though Joel didn’t mention any names, every detail is correct down to the minuscule tattoo on Geoff’s hand.

Joel. 

Ray’s head snaps up and his mind throws memories of other broadcasts that had similar happenings. He convinces himself that Joel must know how to stop this and he races towards the closet, grabbing the first jacket he can find before racing out into the storm, figuring his friends will be fine amongst their arguing.

~

The radio station is not faring any better and Joel wonders if this is someone’s idea of a joke. All around him, papers are flying and people are racing back and forth, shouts adding to the clutter. The only emotion Joel has shown is a raised eyebrow as coffee went flying past him, but now his expression is back to his normal, tired face. In all honesty, Joel isn’t sure what to do.

“Joel! Have you seen Lindsay?!” Kerry shouts and runs over to him, his eyes wide and scared.

Joel slowly shakes his head no and takes a step back as Kerry is bowled over by a screaming Miles, whose hair apparently seems to be on fire. The two scream at each other and scramble to get up while someone sprays a fire extinguisher at the two of them. 

Feeling blindly behind him, Joel presses the button to get into the elevator he just got out of and backs into it, feeling a little bit of disappointment as someone manages to get in just before the doors close.

“Tell me I’m dreaming,” Burnie nearly shouts. “Tell me I’m fucking dreaming!”

Joel says nothing and Burnie puts his head in his hands. Joel has never seen the other man so despondent in his life, but before he can offer any comfort, the doors of the elevator open and Burnie grabs Joel’s wrist, dragging him to a random studio. Once in, Burnie collapses in a chair and Joel waits.

“Okay, if this isn’t a dream, what happens next?” Burnie looks up at Joel expectantly and the dark haired man shakes his head.

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Joel. You talked about this on your radio show last night.”

Joel’s stomach drops and he lets out a groan. “You too?”

“More like everyone at the station,” Burnie cuts in and Joel’s eyes go wide. “Hey, what else are we supposed to do in the middle of fucking nowhere-ville?”

Now Joel feels like sitting down and he does just that, running a hand through his hair. “I…I haven’t figured that part out yet,” Joel mumbles.

“WHAT?” Burnie’s hands hit the table and Joel jumps, scooting his chair away. “YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CAUSED ALL THIS.”

“Why are you blaming me?” Joel quickly defends. “Yes, I came up with it, but it’s not like I expected it to actually happen! How the fuck am I supposed to fix it?”

Burnie breathes out through his nose. “Because you wrote it,” he says in a dangerously low tone. “It’s exactly that reason. You came up with it and only you know how it ends. Not me, not your boyfriend, you.”

Joel inwardly curses himself for mentioning Ray in nearly every show and slams his bag onto the table. The lights turn on and off spastically before the darkness engulfs the two men. Burnie whips out his phone and shines it on Joel. 

“My phone battery will only last an hour if we’re lucky and with your phone, it’ll give us some more time. Now write.”

Joel gulps and his pen hovers over a blank page before he sets it down and makes the first stroke.

~

Ray is confused. The storm winds blow him every which way and he finds himself grabbing onto every stable thing he can. It’s all too real to be a dream, but what Ray can’t figure out is why Joel’s radio show is directly affecting the town.

“Fuck,” Ray spats out and takes shelter in an alleyway when he feels his phone vibrate.

**Where are you, fuckface?**

Of course, it’s Michael.

_**I have to get to the radio station. Joel might have something to do with this. Maybe he knows how to stop it.** _

Michael’s reply comes almost instantly and Ray’s mouth twitches.

**Check if Lindsay’s there. I’ve been trying to contact her all day.**

_**Will do.** _

**And be quick about it. Gavin’s frozen in place.**

Ray’s grip on his phone tightens and he glares at the falling rain. Now more determined than ever, he charges back into the storm and towards the station. The building finally comes in sight and Ray’s mouth drops at the site. 

Above the station is a swirling cloud of thunder and lightning, like an indication that the storm started there. The building windows are dark and Ray wonders for a moment if anyone is inside until the doors open on their own. Ray feels uneasy with this welcome, but swallows down his hesitation and into the gaping entrance of the station.

~

“Why’d you stop writing?”

Joel clenches his fists and glares at his friend. “I’m thinking.”

Burnie lets out a small sigh and it’s just enough to send Joel over the edge. “This isn’t easy, you know!” Joel begins to shout. “I can’t just come up with a story at the drop of a hat! That’s why I said last night that the show was going to be delayed a week!”

“So you’re telling me that we’re going to be stuck in this freak storm for seven days?!”

“Probably! So I’d be grateful if you got off my fucking back!”

The door to the studio opens and the two men snap their glares towards it. A head pokes around the door before the person shuffles in and Joel feels a weight lifted from his chest.

“Ray.”

Ray eyes Burnie nervously and slowly takes off his hood. “They told me I could find you here. Well, more like screamed, but-“

“This is him?” Burnie cuts in, but more kindly than Joel expects and he nods. “Hmm. Nice to meet you.”

Ray shakes Burnie’s extended hand and then pulls out a chair to sit next to Joel. “What are you doing?”

Joel gives a side-glance towards Burnie, who takes it as his leave to go and salutes Joel before heading out of the studio. A huge sigh leaves Joel’s lips and he crumples into his chair.

“I don’t know what to do, Ray. I don’t know why this is happening or even how. I just…I can’t do it.”

A hand grabs his own and Joel stares at the hold. Ray’s fingers are nothing like his own. They’re slender and soft, offering a security he had never really experienced before. He meets the younger man’s eyes and swallows.

“I have this radio show,” Joel begins quietly. “I always broadcast it in the early morning because I don’t want anyone listening to it and-“

“Joel, I know,” Ray gently edges in and Joel’s stomach drops. “I’ve been listening since the first episode.”

“You what?”

Ray chuckles and squeezes Joel’s hand. “Do you really think I’m that perfect?”

Joel’s face heats up and he turns away from Ray, wanting to hide under the table and kiss the young man all at once. Instead, Joel feels some of his strength return and he stares at the light shining from his phone. He knows Ray’s eyes are on him and he swallows.

“Am I really the cause of all of this? Fuck, is this even happening?” Joel questions and looks at Ray, though he knows the other man doesn’t have the answer.

Ray begins to shrug and then shakes his head. “Who even knows? Maybe we’re all just hallucinating. Something in the water or some shit.”

Joel blinks, but says nothing and reaches into his bag, hoping something in there will help him think. As he’s pulling out papers and throwing them every which way, another objects jumps out and nearly hits Ray in the face.

“You have a bird or something?”

Joel looks up at Ray in confusion and then sees a feather in the other man’s hand. 

“I don’t-“ Joel stumbles. “What was that doing in my bag?”

Ray purses his lips and Joel can see his mind in thought. “I have one just like this,” Ray says quietly. “She-well…it appeared after she came into the café.”

Then, Ray’s eyes go wide and Joel has a feeling he isn’t going to like what he hears next.

“She said that something was coming and I’d be the only one to stop it,” Ray whispers as he stares at the feather.

“God, I hope not.”

“What do you mean?” Ray immediately asks and meets Joel’s eyes.

All Joel wants to do at this moment is drag Ray out of the radio station and back to his place where maybe they could be safe from whatever this is. He lets out a heavy sigh and shakes his head. “You don’t deserve this. It’s my problem and I need to fix it on my own.”

Joel thinks he sees Ray sit up and the older man holds out his arm, ready to argue against Ray. A boom of thunder distracts both men and multiple crashing sounds are heard.

“Was that a tree or a car?” Ray says quietly before an alarm goes off.

Without giving Ray a reply, Joel stands up and grabs Ray’s arm, leading him to the stairwell. Joel isn’t sure what’s worse: the fact that they now have to go outside or that he’s actually following safety protocol in an event like this.

Once outside, Joel notices there is no one else and he rushes back to the doors of the station only to find that they are now locked. He reaches out behind him and pushes Ray in between him and the doors, shielding the younger man from the downpour of rain, wind, and everything else that’s flying around outside.

“I’m sorry, Ray,” Joel looks back at the man behind him with a broken gaze. “I’m sorry you had to be dragged into all of this.”

Ray shakes his head and places a reassuring hand on Joel’s shoulder. “No, don’t blame yourself for this. I know you talked about this on your show and I know you’re probably the first person everyone is thinking to point fingers at, but I-“ Ray stumbles over his words and lightning flashes across the sky. “This isn’t your fault.”

Joel feels himself falling in love with Ray even more, but the storm distracts him from expressing what’s inside his mind. At that moment, Joel thinks to himself that maybe if he offers himself up to the storm it’ll go away. It’s a crazy notion, but it just might work until Joel sees Ray staring at him in horror.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” 

Ray’s face morphs from confusion to anger and then into some mixture of love and determination as the wind picks up.

“We need to do this together, Joel!” Ray shouts over the wind. “I don’t care what that girl said or what you’re thinking right now. This is something we-”

Ray’s words are cut off as Joel grabs his face and smashes their lips together. Once the two pull apart, Ray stares at Joel in shock and Joel’s not sure if that’s a good thing or not before nodding and pulling Ray in close.

“Alright, Ray. I trust you.”

The clouds begin growing larger and darker overhead and Joel immediately grabs Ray’s hand as the swirling storm moves closer towards them. A hole opens up in the middle of the clouds and it looks like it’s sucking everything into it, but Joel steels his body and stares up at the center. 

“Together,” Joel says to himself and looks at Ray, who nods approvingly. 

The two men slowly approach the raging clouds and Joel reaches out as if to grab the wind before lightning strikes through his and Ray’s entwined hands, causing the two men to fly apart.


	10. Chapter 10

Ray jumps up with a gasp and stares around at his surroundings. Even though it’s blurry, he knows he’s not at his apartment.

However, that’s not the only thing that feels odd.

The sun is shining through the curtains when Ray was quite sure it had been a downright freak storm from what he can last remember.

Feeling the bed move, Ray reaches for his glasses, which are conveniently sitting on the bedside table and he looks to his side, seeing dark hair sticking out from under the blanket. 

“Joel?” Ray questions quietly and the blanket is pulled down to confirm Ray’s suspicions.

Joel groans in response and slowly opens his eyes. He takes a moment to focus his gaze before falling out of the bed quite ungracefully. “What are you doing here?” the man tries to say calmly as he wakes up completely now, but Ray can see the nervousness in his eyes.

Ray shrugs and gets out of the bed to help Joel up. “You tell me. Weren’t we just in a storm?”

With Ray’s help, Joel gets to his feet and the two go over to the window. The streets look perfectly clean and trees that had fallen down were now upright. The two men glance at each other before looking back at the street. A phone rings and both men jump as Joel reaches for his phone. 

“Hello?”

Ray can hear incoherent yelling on the other end as Joel pulls the phone away from his ear, wincing at certain words.

“Yes, Burnie. I know, Burnie. Wait…what?”

Suddenly, Joel pulls the phone back to his ear and gives Ray a worried look. “No, no, you’ve got it wrong. Today is Friday, Burnie. Remember the storm yesterday? That was Thursday, so-”

Joel goes quiet and Ray rushes over to his phone to look at the date. The letters spelling out Thursday glare back at him and he wordlessly holds it up to Joel. Joel gapes at it for a few moments and then cuts in between Burnie’s yelling again. 

“Is that what you mean by your crazy dream?”

At this point, Ray is hopping around while pulling on his jeans and Joel is scrambling for a better shirt than the one he’s wearing. Without a goodbye, Joel hangs up and he and Ray rush out of the house and towards the radio station. Ray is momentarily surprised that Joel is within walking distance of the station before his thoughts go back to the what-fucking-day-is-it game.

“The café,” Ray breathes out and stops in his tracks. 

Joel stops as well and puts his hand on Ray’s arm. “Go. I’ll be here. Maybe you’ll find out more than me.”

Ray nods and rushes off while Joel races into the radio station. Ray glances at his phone and sees several texts, but chooses to ignore them until he gets to the café.

~

Joel’s lungs feel like they’re about to burst, but he pushes himself to the main floor and crashes through the side door. All that can be heard is his panting as his coworkers stare silently at him with concern. Joel’s face changes from a mixture of confusion to pissed off and back to confusion before he stands up and straightens his shirt. Silently, Joel weaves his way through everyone, noting that Miles hair has somehow miraculously grown back, and side stepping into Burnie’s office. 

“Okay, Burnie, what the fuck-“ Joel begins as he turns around and then freezes when he sees familiar red hair.

“Joel!” Lindsay happily greets and the man feels himself stumble backwards against the door. “Oh okay,” she jokingly sighs.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Joel says quickly. “You’re gone. Missing.”

Lindsay sheepishly smiles as Burnie clears his throat in an obvious manner. “Oh yeah. That. I forgot to let the station know I was going to be a few hours late today since I had to go out of town yesterday. It sounded like I barely avoided the storm too!”

“You too?” Burnie sighs and Lindsay turns back to Joel.

“Yeah. There was a storm, right, Joel?”

Joel isn’t sure what to believe at this moment and contemplates leaving the office. 

Burnie scowls and sits back in his chair, crossing his arms. “It was a dream. A big weird freaky dream and I might add that today is Thursday.”

“What? No,” Lindsay immediately replies and Joel can’t wait to see what happens next. “It’s Friday, Burnie. That wasn’t a dream.”

Joel can see Burnie attempting to push down his anger as best as he can before the man lets out an angry sigh. “I don’t know what you guys are playing at, but we’re way behind schedule. You two better get your asses moving if you want to keep your jobs and maybe I’ll overlook the fact that you two are acting batshit crazy right now.”

Burnie’s eyes spell out murder and Lindsay gets up quickly.

“Um…let’s go, Joel,” Lindsay says quietly and grabs Joel’s arm, dragging him out of Burnie’s office and into a secluded part of the station.

“I’m not crazy!” She harshly whispers. “You know about the storm too!”

Joel hesitates and then nods in agreement. “Well, I kind of had something to do with it, so…”

The two stand in silence and Joel can see Lindsay struggling to come up with an answer to all of this. Joel hears a defeated sigh and he looks down at the young woman.

“Maybe…maybe it was all a dream. All my memories of yesterday are really fuzzy anyways.”

Before Joel can reply, Lindsay’s phone goes off and she gives Joel a questioning look before the man nods and steps to the side so Lindsay can have a little privacy.

“Hi, Michael,” Lindsay greets and then puts a hand on Joel’s arm to stop him from leaving. “After work today? I’d love to. Oh. What? Ray?”

This catches Joel’s attention and the man waits patiently as Lindsay listens.

“Alright, see you later!” Lindsay’s attitude has brightened considerably and she has a faint blush on her cheeks as she smiles at her phone. Remembering that she still has a hand on Joel, Lindsay shakes her head.

“Sorry about that. Apparently Michael’s sensing a disturbance in the force with Ray and figures the guy will probably have the day off if you want to see him later.” 

Joel is half-expecting a wink and nudge from Lindsay, but the girl spares him that embarrassment and she heads back towards the main offices first. 

“I think everyone will need a day off after this. Whatever happened is over now, so I guess that’s all that matters,” she shrugs and then practically skips away.

Joel can’t help but find Lindsay’s words actually sage advice and he follows her, quickly locating a piece of paper. He scribbles down a note and shoves it under Burnie’s door, racing towards the elevators. Joel jumps in just in time to see the door to Burnie’s office fly open before the elevator doors seal him away and Joel lets out his first contented sigh of the day.

~

Ray has his face buried in his hands and he’s not sure if he wants to laugh or scream at his coworkers. 

“X-Ray?” Gavin asks quietly and Ray lets out a huge sigh before dropping his hands. 

“So, today is Thursday?” Ray asks quietly. “And none of you remember the storm? You’re all just fine and fucking dandy?”

Each of his coworkers take a step away from him, noticing the quiet anger in Ray’s voice. 

“Okay, Ray.” Michael is the first to approach. “I know you’re in your own little world, but calm down.”

Ray breathes out through his nose heavily and shoots a heated glare at Michael. “But how is today Thursday? Yesterday was Thursday. Today can’t be Thursday too.”

Michael gulps at Ray’s dark tone before Ryan decides to jump in. “Ray, did anyone mention that we all had dreams about a crazy storm?”

Ray’s head snaps in Ryan’s direction and his dark glare changes to confusion. “What?”

“Y-yeah!” Gavin starts nervously. “I had a dream that I was frozen in place too!”

Ray looks around at the rest of the men expectantly and Geoff sighs.

“My tattoos could move.”

“I had animal ears.”

“I had a goddamn tail.”

Ray’s at a loss for words and he begins questioning if what he had experienced was all a dream as well. “How did we all have the same dream though?”

“Beats me,” Geoff shrugs. “We live in a small town, maybe we all heard rumors about something and dreamed about it.”

Ray isn’t convinced, but he has a feeling that this is the only acceptable answer he’ll get from his friends. His mind is fried and he doesn’t want to think about it any longer.

“Take the day off, Ray,” Geoff says gently and places a hand on Ray’s shoulder. “You’ve had an interesting past couple of weeks. I think you deserve it.”

Reluctantly, Ray nods and gives a small smile just for kicks before heading out of the café. The sun shines brightly down on his face and Ray thinks to call Joel first.

“Verdict?” Ray asks when he hears Joel pick up. He hears a sigh on the other end and thinks he already knows the answer.

“Crazy dream. It doesn’t make sense, but I have a feeling that’s the only explanation we have.”

Ray kicks a pebble at his feet and looks around at the buildings in the town, wondering what really happened. 

“Meet me at the library?” Joel interrupts his thoughts.

“Sure. See you there.”

Ray hangs up his phone and begins walking slowly towards the library, the events of the past weeks rushing through his mind. Surely there must be a reason for all of it. 

He sits down on the concrete steps and stares out thinking that maybe that was the problem. Lots of different and unexplainable things happened every day, whether by chance or fate, and even though those events seemed huge at the time, they all passed and life went on. Ray thinks to himself that maybe all he needs to do is to stop focusing on what had happened and rather pay attention to the present and what he was experiencing now with his life; the café, his friends, and of course, Joel.

“You know, I’ve always liked this library. It’s the one part of our town that’s stayed the same.”

Ray looks up and sees Joel staring at the library with a nostalgic look in his eyes. The younger man glances over his shoulder and thinks to himself that it is a nice addition to the town that he should probably visit soon. Getting to his feet, Ray dusts himself off and joins Joel at his side staring up at the building. When he feels a pair of eyes on him, Ray turns to look at Joel and his mouth twitches as he meets the other man’s eyes. Though tired, they look as if they hold the promise of an adventure and Ray can’t help but feel excitement when a hand slips into his own. 

“As much as I hate to say this, I think I’m going to stop doing my radio show. Too many late nights, not enough ideas, I need to stick with what I know. Stocks and gold is where it’s at.”

Ray isn’t sure what to say at first and then holds himself back from grinning as a thought comes to his mind. “Then I guess you’ll just have to stay on the phone with me every night until I fall asleep,” he says in a teasing manner.

“There’s nothing I’d love to do more,” Joel replies sincerely and Ray feels his heart flutter, especially when the older man places a quick kiss on his cheek.

Joel gently tugs at Ray’s hand and pulls him towards the street, both of them now locked in a silent conversation that they seem to understand flawlessly. 

Ray gives one last look behind the library as Joel leads him away and for the first time notices the angel statues at the top. Ray smiles, noting how one of them looks oddly familiar and nearly misses when the statue winks at him. Ray’s grin drops and he can’t help constantly looking over his shoulder as he walks with Joel. 

Maybe everything that happened was only a dream or maybe it was something more, the odd perks of living within a little town. Whatever the reason, in the end Ray found himself only caring about the man in front of him and if that came with some unexpected surprises along the way, well, that was going to be absolutely perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp...I guess this is the end. Hope it didn't suck!! D:


End file.
